“You don't make an omelette without breaking eggs, I'm afraid” — M.L. Stedman Breaking eggs Copy Share Image
“All night, far above him the light stood guard, slicing the darkness like a sword.” — M.L. Stedman Darkness Copy Share Image
“I warn you, though, he's not the happiest corpse in the morgue. Not much of a talker, Neville Whittnish.” — M.L. Stedman Copy Share Image
“Mind you keep out of the sun, now. Don’t want you spoiling your skin with freckles,” — M.L. Stedman Freckles Copy Share Image
“He struggles to make sense of it--all this love, so bent out of shape, refracted, like light through the lens.” — M.L. Stedman Love Copy Share Image
“If Tom is to take his leave of the world, he wants to remember the beauty of it, not just the suffering.” — M.L. Stedman Beauty Copy Share Image
“Putting down the burden of the lie has meant giving up the freedom of the dream.” — M.L. Stedman Dreams Copy Share Image
“Then he remembered Ralph's words--"no point in fighting your war over and over until you get it right.” — M.L. Stedman Moving on Copy Share Image
“We live with the decisions we make, Bill. That’s what bravery is. Standing by the consequences of your mistakes.” — M.L. Stedman Bravery Copy Share Image
“The town draws a veil over certain events. This is a small community, where everyone knows that sometimes the contract to forget… — M.L. Stedman Town Copy Share Image
“Everything's ruined. Nothing can ever be put right." Tom rested a hand on hers. "We've put things right as well as we… — M.L. Stedman Ruined Copy Share Image
“Sometimes, you're the one who strikes it lucky. Sometimes, it's the other poor bastard who's left with the short straw, and you… — M.L. Stedman Irony Copy Share Image
“Here in a place where there's just wind an waves and light, and the intricate machinery that keeps the flame burning and… — M.L. Stedman Light Copy Share Image
“Later still, the war memorials would sprout from the earth, dwelling not on the loss, but on what the loss had won,… — M.L. Stedman Memorials Copy Share Image
“Beside him now on the veranda, Isabel was saying, "even though you hadn't seen him for years, he was still your dad.… — M.L. Stedman Ur Dad Copy Share Image
“The oceans never stop. They know no beginning or end. The wind never finishes. Sometimes it disappears, but only to gather momentum… — M.L. Stedman Deep Copy Share Image
“There are still more days to travel in this life. And he knows that the man who makes the journey has been… — M.L. Stedman End of life Copy Share Image
“The ones ( life-form) to fear the most stay still, unnoticed, their defenses undetected until you trigger them by accident. They make… — M.L. Stedman Fear Copy Share Image
“It astounds him that the tiny life of the girl means more to him than all the millennia before it. He struggles… — M.L. Stedman Desire Copy Share Image
“I can leave myself to rot in the past, spend my time hating people for what happened, like my father did, or… — M.L. Stedman Bad thing Copy Share Image
“He traced the constellations as they slid their way across the roof of the world from dusk till dawn. The precision of… — M.L. Stedman Enough time Copy Share Image
“It’s a hard job, and a busy one. The lightkeepers have no union, not like the men on the store boats –… — M.L. Stedman Hard job Copy Share Image
“As Tom wandered back to Mrs Mewett’s, he thought about the little relics at the lighthouse – Docherty’s knitting, his wife’s jar… — M.L. Stedman Death Copy Share Image
“It occurs to him that there are different versions of himself to farewell—the abandoned eight-year-old; the delusional soldier who hovered somewhere in… — M.L. Stedman Mind Copy Share Image
“Later, the child climbs down from her mother’s knee and clambers up onto Tom. He holds her wordlessly, trying to imprint everything… — M.L. Stedman Children Copy Share Image
“He must turn to something solid, because if he didn't, who knew where his mind or his soul could blow away to,… — M.L. Stedman Psychology Copy Share Image
“Tom thought back to the imposing, empty house: to the silence that deadened every room with a subtly different pitch; to the… — M.L. Stedman Death Copy Share Image
“Coming back last time to the house she grew up in, Isabel had been reminded of the darkness that had descended with… — M.L. Stedman Brotherhood Copy Share Image
“And the stars: the sky gets crowded at night, and it is a bit like watching a clock, seeing the constellations slide… — M.L. Stedman Constancy Copy Share Image
“Isabel sat up, and looked deep into his eyes. ‘What goes on in there, I wonder?” — M.L. Stedman Eyes Copy Share Image
“When it comes to the ocean, anything’s possible, I suppose. Anything at all.” — M.L. Stedman Ocean Copy Share Image
“Perhaps when it comes to it, no one is just the worst thing they ever did.” — M.L. Stedman Worst thing Copy Share Image
“You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering… — M.L. Stedman Bad thing Copy Share Image
“a lighthouse warns of danger--tells people to keep their distance. She had mistaken it for a place of safety.” — M.L. Stedman Danger Copy Share Image
